F1 Austrian GP: Confident Raikkonen buoyant over tyre strategy

Kimi Raikkonen talks up Ferrari's pace ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix as the team takes a punt on super-soft tyres for the start.

Kimi Raikkonen is hoping the strategic decision to start the Austrian Grand Prix on the super-soft tyres will pay dividends as he talked up Ferrari's pace ahead of the race.

In an eventful qualifying session headlined by kerb issues and inclement weather conditions, Raikkonen would qualify sixth on the grid, though this is set to become fourth once Nico Rosberg and team-mate Sebastian Vettel are demoted because of a gearbox penalty.

Crucially, however, Raikkonen will start the race on the super-soft tyre after setting his quickest lap time on the 'red' rubber, unlike both Mercedes' which persevered with the quicker, but significantly more fragile ultra-soft tyres.

It is an 'advantage' the Finn hopes will ultimately pay off in a car he described as 'behaving well'.

"I ran them [super soft tyres] in the morning and they were pretty good," said Raikkonen. "The lap wasn't perfect [in Q2] but we were expecting it to be enough to go through to Q3. Is it going to be a big advantage? We'll see tomorrow, it depends a lot on the weather. I think the tyre life will be a challenge for everybody, whoever makes the tyres last longer, in both compounds, will make a big benefit in the race, but let's see how the weather will be and everything plays out tomorrow.

"I think the car has been working really well all weekend, especially this morning and in qualifying but conditions changed in the last qualifying. In Q2 we had a very good feeling, we also went out with the Super Soft tyres also, just to make sure we could easily go through to Q3. The feeling is good with the car, even in the wet it worked pretty well."